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Thursday, 22 December 2016

The labour movement and the migration debate

Andy
Burnham's recent call for increased immigration controls was a harbinger of
what we can expect from politicians on the Labour Party's right wing in 2017.
His article was as cogently and persuasively expressed a piece as you will ever
get from someone arguing for restrictions on freedom of movement, using left
wing and pro-working class rhetoric. Burnham predictably treated the Leave vote in
this summer's referendum on EU membership as the basis for a 'rethink' on freedom
of movement. However, his targets and conclusions are wrong.

Jeremy
Corbyn, Diane Abbott and John McDonnell have all put forward much better views.
They acknowledge there is exploitation of migrant labour (and yes, they say,
this is part of pushing down pay and conditions for all workers). But we won't
deal with that by restricting migration.

Migrants themselves
are not responsible for pushing down wages or cutting public services. It is
governments and employers using immigration as an excuse to pursue a race to
the bottom or make cuts. We need to deal
with the exploitation and also enhance workers' rights, increase the living
wage, invest in jobs, and so on. In the process of putting forward such demands
and policies we can challenge the prevalent scapegoating and redirect attention
to the real causes of poverty, inequality and social injustice.

As these
leading Labour figures recognise, a solid and persuasive response to the migration
debate requires more than just the reiteration of anti-racist positions on
migrants' rights, freedom of movement etc (vital as that is!). It's also
necessary to articulate a positive economic alternative to failed Tory
austerity, resonating with millions of people's concerns and needs.

Labour is in
a mess on this issue because for every good utterance by the aforementioned
leading figures there is an undermining intervention from someone like Burnham
or Stephen Kinnock. Most people don't have a clue where Labour stands and the
party looks divided and directionless (because it is). Lots of people enthused
by Corbyn - many of whom have joined the Labour Party - are disoriented and
anxious as a result.

There is a
closely related debate in the trade union movement. This reflects the logic of Labour
electoralism (among a layer of Labour-affiliated union officials), but also the
limits of trade union consciousness (seeing things in narrow economic terms,
trying to reflect the mixed consciousness of union members etc).

Unite general
secretary Len McCluskey may have been mis-represented to some extent by the
Guardian, but his real views are nonetheless
ambiguous, offering too much ground to those characterising immigration as a
threat. Such fudge offers no way forward.

The section
of McCluskey's piece to do with immigration was a mess because he was fudging
the issue and desperately trying to appeal to conflicting tendencies at the
same time. He is a sincere anti-racist who wants to resist the scapegoating of
migrants, but he's also highly vulnerable to the pressures of both Labour
electoralism (which dictate 'you must abandon freedom of movement to appeal to
voters') and being general secretary of a large trade union whose members have
very diverse views.

Such a
confused and contradictory stance satisfies nobody and achieves nothing. He
needs political clarity and consistency, sticking to a position of defending
freedom of movement on clear anti-racist, class-based and internationalist
grounds.

The left can
chart a way forward, but it requires a principled, coherent approach. It starts
with acceptance of the referendum result (irrespective of how you voted), as
anything else would be a great boost to the hard Right, and a sharp focus on
what kind of Brexit we have. This is a deeply contested process, with the
Tories weak and incoherent, presenting the left with opportunities as well as
dangers.

It requires a
principled anti-racist politics that defends migrants' rights and freedom of
movement, challenges exploitation of migrant workers, and confronts the
exclusion of people from beyond Fortress Europe.

This
anti-racism can be combined with the championing of a positive alternative
around jobs, public services, pay and housing. The labour movement - both the
Labour Party and a more combative trade union movement - has to offer real
material change, using the rupture of Brexit as an opportunity to promote a
rupture with several years of Tory austerity and decades of neoliberal
policies.